I recently read an interesting question on Facebook about the founding of America. Based on the command of Scripture to “Honor the emperor” (1 Peter 2:17) were the Colonies right in declaring independence?
This is a fascinating question and one that is well worth the studying and pondering. This question seems to hold the assumption that America established itself as a christian nation and thus, if its beginnings were on the basis of not following Scripture, it is founded on ideas antithetical to the values it professed to hold.
Christian Nation?
I will lay my cards out quickly. I think the assumption of a christian nation is revisionist. This is quickly confirmed by reading a couple histories of the founding or biographies of the leaders. Yes, we know the story of the Puritans and the Mayflower. But they were one of many colonies and not the first to touch down in America.
The fathers themselves were, by and large, not paragons of Christianity. There are examples of Christians among them, John Adams comes to mind, but over all their conviction was not to create a Christian Nation and it is doubtful that many were the type of stalwart Christians we often paint them to be.
So, straight away I have rendered the question pointless. But let’s walk through some more thoughts anyway.
Respectful?
Now, did they "honor the emperor"? In a snapshot look at 1776, we have a British colony that declares independence and strikes off on its on after a revolutionary war.
However, if we dig deeper we realize it is more complicated than that (as it usually is if we dig). The Colonies sat within the British Government which was a constitutional monarchy. For thousands of years, humans have been setting up governments with certain rules and roles for citizens and rulers. In this particular version, the monarch is not absolute and is under the law and the government includes a representative Parliament.
Much of the grievance from the American colonies is that they were not given the chance to have representatives in Parliament. Essentially, they were saying that the government was not being run the way this government decided to run. The game was not being played according to the established rules.
In my estimation, the respectful thing to do in that situation would be to ask for representation, appeal to the king for changes, send ambassadors to talk through possibilities, set up intermediate governments to deal with the local issues, and ask for changes to be made according to the norms and rules already set up by the government.
The more I read American History the more I am surprised to find that the above happened and many times over. In fact, in the days before July 4, and the Declaration of Independence, a narrow vote was taken, and lost, to send yet another means for reconciliation.
The Declaration itself is a measured and orderly document listing the grievances of the people toward their king (it is not just its first two sentences). And if we are looking for respect, I am most struck by the fact that, as soon as there was a treaty signed between England and America, John Adams was appointed as Ambassador to England and presented himself before King George III to pay the respects of the United States of America.
Conclusion
I don’t believe we can hold the founding leaders of our country to the principles of Christianity as I don’t believe, by and large, they were Christians. However, they seemed to be working within the rules and norms of the government that were established before them. In addition, the amount of respect and deliberation that happened before declaring independence was surprising.
However, let us remember, as followers of Christ the truth of 1 Peter 2:17 is still truth for us to follow even if we are nurtured in a culture of independence and the spirit of 76’. Often that will mean we go against the grain of our fellow citizens.